04/02/2022
Have Cameroonians Been Orphaned By Coronavirus?
By Bouddih Adams
We have said it, just as we said about the war in the Northwest and Southwest Regions, that, if this coronavirus thing were only creating anxiety and theatrics without taking lives, it would have been fun. But it is a very serious issue – gravely serious, despite the antics of some Governments.
The coronavirus has exposed a lot of things. It has shown us which leaders are Statesmen and which ones are not. It has shown us the leaders that love their people and work for their well-being, as well as those that care only for their personal wellbeing.
Heads of State and Nations have come out, some within every couple of days, to appraise the State of the Nation vis-à-vis the COVID-19 plague, but some haven’t at all. Some leaders [who are not even referred to as ‘father of the nation’] have shown their fatherly love for their countries.
That is why we are asking; if Cameroon has been orphaned by the coronavirus. Cameroonians seem like orphans. Well, this situation is not predicated on the observations by some people that the Father of the Nation has transited (avoiding the word used because CPDMists evidently abhors the word), that is why nothing has come from his end. His supporters and sympathisers hold that he is simply avoiding contracting the disease.
We, here, wish him well so that he can come out, as per tradition, on May 20 and shame his detractors, hoping that COVID-19 would have been totally kicked out by then.
But we have been wondering; if the coronavirus came before January, before the New Year handshakes, would the Presidency of the Republic have canceled the annual event this year, or it would have simply witnessed a “glissement de date” to be held next year, just as the AFCON witnessed a “glissement”. Would the Presidency have gone ahead to organise it? Would it have still been handshakes (maybe after washing hands and sanitizing them at the entrance to the Unity Palace)? Or would it have been the greetings imposed by the COVID-19, of hitting of legs or elbows? If the second scenario were to be the case; two very ugly situations might have presented themselves: one would have been how many persons would our beloved President greet using his legs, and, the other would have been that the mystics that go with handshakes, as some people believe, would have been compromised.
Another thing that has established itself is that, a President only begets the citizens he deserves. Cameroonians have been told to return home after 6.00pm, but they still hide and drink in bars behind closed doors, including the very defence and security forces that are charged with implementing the measure. Why is this so? The Presidency offered only FCFA 1 billion to fight CORID-19 plague that threatens all citizens, but allegedly bought wine for the New Year handshakes to the tune of FCFA 1.8 billion. Meanwhile, Cameroonians lack water to drink, before that with which to wash their hands. The FCFA.1.8 billion the Presidency allegedly used to import wine is money that would have provided at least three boreholes in each of the 360 municipalities in the country.
In the meantime, this is an opportunity for our cotton and fabric industry to make a thousand times profit by just producing masks, though some people in power would prefer to award such contracts to foreign companies in order to have kick-backs for their personal pockets. Some would even award the contract to China from where the plague originated before going around the world.
Also, COVID-19, if not because of its killer effect on the world, would have been a good thing for leveling the field and making everyone equal; whether donor or banana republics, strong or weak states, rich or poor nations, kings or commoners. It poses the same threat both to those in government and the governed, the wealthy and the miserable, the powerful and the powerless, friends and foe, all have been equalled by the COVID-19.
COVID-19 has equally stopped Government officials who spend the people’s money to travel abroad for medical attention. All of us will now go to the same miserable health structures that they built, thinking that it would be only for us, while they seek medical attention abroad for little things like a headache.
The activities of the military and separatist fighters have apparently mellowed. Either the military are afraid to arrest and detain people and make money from bail for fear that such arrestees might be carriers of the virus; or the separatist fighters are afraid to kidnap people and ask for ransom, because such kidnapped persons might bring the virus to their camps.
NOTA BENE:
Cameroonian authorities are not serious about the fight against the COVID-19. Why? Next door Gabon, that used to survive at the mercy of the then President Ahmadou Ahidjo, has, under the COVID-19 predicament, offered free transportation, free water, free electricity, free lodging and other amenities and necessities to its people, but all Cameroon can offer its people is: “Wash Your Hands With Soap and Water!”
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